Why you have to keep smiling at a dementia patient – you’ll feel better and it could evoke a positive response

A smile on the outside makes a carer feel better, right? It’s not just about you, it’s about your elderly relative with Alzheimer’s and getting them to respond

A smile might lower their defences and make them more amenable to your requests. Whatever you do, save your tears of frustration for a place they can’t see you

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Author Anthea Rowan with her mother, who suffered from dementia. As a carer you’ve got to keep smiling, an expert on the condition tells her - and it’s not for the reason you might think. Photo: Anthea Rowan

Published: 4:15am, 7 Aug 2023

This is the 17th instalment in a series on dementia, including the research into its causes and treatment, advice for carers, and stories of hope.

You’ve got to keep smiling, says Timothy Kwok, professor of geriatric medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and director of the Jockey Club Centre for Positive Ageing.

I think I did, most days that I cared for my mother. Put on a smile on the outside and you’ll feel better inside; isn’t that what they say?

But that’s not why Kwok advocates carers smile at their charges.

Timothy Kwok, professor of geriatric medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Director of the Jockey Club Centre for Positive Ageing. Photo: Timothy Kwok

“If you smile, you are more likely to get a positive response,” he says.

“A dementia sufferer can still read a smile. It’s a very basic instinct, to respond to a smile. Think about a newborn baby; they always smile back.”

SCMP Series

Decoding dementia

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